We had another fascinating round of NRL action with the Panthers losing to a fired-up Cowboys side, the Sea Eagles thumping the battered Storm, the Dolphins continuing to impress with a win over the Warriors, and the Tigers falling just short against the Knights.
Here's whose stocks are up and down after Round 17.
Our footy experts cast their eye over the week's action to find out whose stocks are up -- whether it's a coaching masterstroke or a player having a blinder -- and whose are down.
Brisbane Broncos
Stocks up: Despite losing their last six games, the Broncos started against the Roosters with the intensity of defending premiers. Reece Walsh, in particular, was fired up and the added pace of their play caused some ill-discipline in defence from the Roosters. They scored their first try thanks to a mountain of possession in their favour and led 16-12 at halftime. They looked likely to end their slump, but couldn't break the Roosters' defence in the second half.
Stocks down: Despite an improved attitude across the park, the Broncos still struggled with the quality of their execution. They had enough ball in the first half to lead by plenty, but couldn't finish off any advantage gained. After the break, defensive lapses and an inability to break the Roosters, saw them fall to another frustrating loss.
- Darren Arthur
Canberra Raiders
Stocks up: Canberra found a way through a tricky one. They were under pressure early, Savelio Tamale had a brutal afternoon under the high ball and was hooked, but the Raiders steadied themselves after halftime and rallied to win 24-16.
Stocks down: It still wasn't clean. The Savage try came with controversy over a possible knock-on in the lead-up, and the Dragons clearly found something to target before Canberra adjusted.
- Isaac Issa
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
Stocks up: This was a really encouraging response, mostly because of captain Stephen Crichton. Moving him into the halves could've looked like a patch up job, but instead he looked like the difference, creating constantly and giving Canterbury's attack a sharper feel. Josh Curran's double and Jethro Rinakama's finishing added to a performance that felt confident again.
Stocks down: The only slight concern is the Dogs still had moments where they let the Titans find cheap points out wide, but after a 30-12 win heading into the bye, they'll take that every day.
- Isaac Issa
Cronulla Sharks
BYE
Dolphins
Stocks up: The game of the year lived up to the hype, and the Phins are up and about. Herbie Farnworth had an absolute blinder, there were multiple passages of scintillating footy down the left hand side which flipped field position, and they defended gamely for the most part. This team is for real, and has a great chance to finish not just in the top four, but the top two.
Stocks down: As great a win as this was, the arm injury to Isaiya Katoa is absolutely massive. Their young halfback suffered a fractured wrist and will be spending some time on the sidelines over the next two months. How and when he returns is massive for the rest of the season, but Brad Schneider is a safe pair of hands in the interim.
- Matt Bungard
Gold Coast Titans
Stocks up: Phillip Sami's hat-trick gave Gold Coast something to cling to, and there were moments where their strike out wide looked capable of bothering Canterbury.
Stocks down: But this was too loose overall. The Titans lost 30-12, Stephen Crichton carved them up from five-eighth with four try assists, and the Dogs' edge threats kept finding space. Sami's individual brilliance wasn't enough to cover the bigger issue - they gave Canterbury far too many looks and never really wrestled control back.
- Isaac Issa
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Stock up: Manly were outstanding. A 30-4 win over Melbourne is a statement no matter who the Storm are missing, and Haumole Olakau'atu's double was perfectly timed to guarantee his selection for Origin III.
Stocks down: The obvious downside is Luke Brooks' knee injury. The win pushed Manly up the ladder, but if the ACL fears are confirmed, it changes the feel of their season immediately. Joey Walsh also faced scrutiny after a sin-bin hip drop tackle, but luckily escaped suspension following the incident.
- Isaac Issa
Melbourne Storm
Stocks up: Honestly, there wasn't much. They were already injury-hit and still had a few isolated moments of effort, but that's about where the positives end.
Stocks down: A 30-4 loss is rough by Melbourne standards. With Jahrome Hughes already sidelined, they lacked control, struggled to build pressure and were completely outplayed by a Manly side that looked sharper in every key area.
- Isaac Issa
Newcastle Knights
Stocks up: A different kind of win, but a win nonetheless. The mark of a good team is being able to go away from type and still be successful, and this swashbuckling Knights team has been all points, all the time, in most of their strong performances this year. Instead, it was a defensive arm wrestle which they managed to navigate down the stretch.
Stocks down: They made a lot of breaks early on, but that clinical attack just wasn't there today. Even still, they ground out a tough win and are looking pretty strong for a big run towards and into the finals.
- Matt Bungard
New Zealand Warriors
Stocks up: Despite the loss, you've got to look at how some of their young and less-heralded players stepped up in what was the biggest game of the season. Jacob Laban had those two great catches, Demetric Vaimauga was putting hits on people, Sam Healey got what many thought was the match-winner, and Tanner Stowers-Smith and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava both dug in massively. This was a great game and despite the loss, nothing to be worried about.
Stocks down: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak got that early try but couldn't finish the game - a suspected hamstring injury will have him on the sidelines for a little while as well. The injuries are adding up in the backline for the Warriors, but they'll soldier on.
- Matt Bungard
North Queensland Cowboys
Stocks up: The Cowboys started their home game against the Panthers like they had a point to prove against the competition favourites. With inspirational captain Jason Taumalolo celebrating his 300th game, they managed to continue the intensity for the entire 80 minutes to upset the Panthers in a brilliant performance. The Maroons have stifled Nathan Cleary with rushing defence and the Cowboys ran with the same tactic, cutting down his time and forcing errors.
Stocks down: Despite all of the opportunities the Panthers handed them, the Cowboys were unable to capitalise in the first half due to their own litany of errors. Fortunately, the Panthers kept handing them the ball all night and they eventually managed a hard-fought victory.
- Darren Arthur
Parramatta Eels
Stocks up: It was another tough night in a tough season for Parramatta, but both Luca Moretti and Teancum Brown gave them some really good minutes off the bench - it's not a coincidence that the main period of the game where the Eels were on top territorially was when Moretti came on, and Brown looked lively in a second half where they had little else to get excited about.
Stocks down: There is one big elephant in the room in regards to the Parramatta rebuild, which is apparently on track. That is that Mitch Moses, their best player and star halfback, will be 32 before the end of the season and hasn't exactly set the world on fire for the Eels this season, on top of missing a bunch of games due to injury. Class is permanent and all that, but it's not controversial to suggest that the best days of his career are behind him.
- Matt Bungard
Penrith Panthers
Stocks up: Thomas Jenkins continued his freakish try-scoring feats for the Panthers. His first try was a masterpiece of sheer determination, darting from dummy half from five metres out and dragging Cowboys defender with him over the line. He crossed again before halftime to allow the Panthers to go to the break level at 10-10. Unfortunately for the Panthers, his two tries were their only four-pointers all night.
Stocks down: The Panthers started their game against the Cowboys with more errors than you would expect to see in a whole month from the team. They were harassed all night by a fast moving and determined Cowboys defensive line and they just couldn't find the rhythm that we expect from the competition leaders.
- Darren Arthur
St George Illawarra Dragons
Stocks up: Their first-half plan had merit. They targeted Tamale repeatedly, forced errors, and briefly led 10-6 after Setu Tu's try, which showed they'd found a real pressure point.
Stocks down: But once again, they couldn't sustain it. Canberra adjusted, the Dragons lost control after halftime, and a 24-16 defeat became another reminder that they can find moments, just not enough of them across 80 minutes.
- Isaac Issa
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Stocks up: A really important win for Souths who, with the help of some byes, are pretty well placed. Brandon Smith was excellent again, David Fifita had a very productive game based on volume, rather than explosive plays, and the halves combination of Ashton Ward and Cody Walker was as in-sync as I can remember them being in a game this year. On top of that, they had to do a mountain of defensive work in the first half and passed with flying colours.
Stocks down: No more byes from here, so any chances to rest up before the finals are gone. The Latrell Mitchell fitness situation is still hanging like a massive cloud over the club, and regardless of how good things are going there's always concerns that the injury toll can spiral out of control. But as of right now, if they can beat Penrith next week, they'll be close to booked in for a finals berth.
- Matt Bungard
Sydney Roosters
Stocks up: The Roosters were up for the battle at Suncorp Stadium and faced a high energy, determined Broncos side in awful conditions. Despite the Broncos having all the ball in the first half, the Roosters managed to only trail 16-12 at the break. In the second half they were able to wrestle back control of the game, with their scrambling defence keeping the Broncos to just the one penalty goal.
Stocks down: The Roosters' discipline let them down early with the speed of the Broncos attack leading to high tackle and shoulder charge penalties. Whilst gallant in defence, the mountain of possession saw the Broncos cross three times to take a halftime lead. The Roosters showed much more control after the break..
- Darren Arthur
Wests Tigers
Stocks up: Another very good team performance from the forward pack, who won the middle comfortably and completed well. Adam Doueihi had a couple of nice touches in his return, but the points just didn't come.
Stocks down: You have to applaud their toughness and grit but this isn't last year's Tigers, or the year before that. This game was there to be won and it was massive given their ladder position, and just how badly things have gone off the boil in the past two months. Since that incredible Thursday night at Leichhardt against the Raiders, they've won just two of eight.
- Matt Bungard